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Daily Business Report — May 11, 2011

Del Mar City Manager Takes Post in San Juan Capistrano

Karen Brust

Del Mar City Manager Karen Brust, who has been with the city since the fall of 2007, has taken a job as city manager of the city of San Juan Capistrano. She begins her new job on June 30. “Karen has placed the city on a solid track towards accomplishing long-standing goals and leaves with an outstanding record of achievement,” said Deputy Mayor Carl Hilliard. “We will miss her energy, enthusiasm and cheerful approach to every task at hand and we wish her the very best as she goes forward to meet new challenges.” Former Del Mar councilwoman Crystal Crawford said Brust quickly responded to the faltering economy and significantly reduced costs without reducing city services or sacrificing project. She called Brust “a creative problem-solver.” Said Brust: “Moving to San Juan Capistrano will allow me to have the opportunity to move closer to our family while pursuing my career passion through serving the people of San Juan Capistrano as its next city manager.”

Council Approves Two of the Mayor’s Reforms

Two of Mayor Jerry Sanders’ reform measures — ending terminal leave for thousands of current city employees and the modification of pension benefits for future hires in the police, fire and lifeguard services — have been approved by the City Council. Sanders said those reforms will help save money for city services and put employee benefits more in line with the private sector. “The city could save as much as $1 million a year by ending terminal-leave benefits for roughly 5,600 city workers,” said Sanders. “Terminal-leave benefits allow employees to accrue vacation and service time, keep health insurance and retain certain other city benefits for a certain period of time after retiring or quitting their jobs. By reforming pension benefits for future police, fire and lifeguard hires, the city will save money on future pension costs.” The council approved a series of changes to the pensions of future hires, including reducing the multiplier used to calculate the pensions of employees with at least 20 years of service who retire at age 50. These employees must now work until 55 before qualifying for the higher multiplier. Under the changes, the size of an employee’s pension will be based on the average of that worker’s three highest annual salaries rather than his or her single highest annual salary.

KPBS Radio Announces 24-Hour News Programming

KPBS 89.5 FM, the public broadcasting radio station based at San Diego State University, will begin airing 24 hours of news and informational programming beginning on May 23. “The recent world and national events have demonstrated that locals rely on KPBS — on all our platforms — for the latest news and updates,” said General Manager Tom Karlo. “Now they will have access to that public service on KPBS-FM 24-7.” The station also announced several changes: “These Days” is changing its name to “Midday Edition” and will be an hour-long program at noon; “Editors Roundtable” will become “The Roundtable” and move to noon on Fridays as part of “KPBS Midday Edition.” The station said all of the programs now airing on the radio will remain, but some may be airing at a new time.

Several new programs are being added to the radio schedule:

• “World Have Your Say — a BBC call-in/ interview program takes questions from around the world (weekdays at 10 a.m.).

• “To the Point” — hosted by Warren Olney is a national interview/public affairs program with a West Coast feel (weekdays at 11a.m.).

• “Q” — an arts, culture and entertainment program from the CBC and hosted by Jian Ghomeshi (weeknights at 8 p.m.).

• “PBS NewsHour” — an audio feed of the PBS news program (weeknights at 9 p.m.).

• “Being” —Krista Tippet hosts this program about religion, faith and beliefs. (Sundays at 7 p.m.).

UCSD Professor Honored for Climate Change Work

Naomi Oreskes

Naomi Oreskes, professor of history and science studies at UCSD, has been named 2011 “Climate Change Communicator of the Year” by George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. The honor recognizes an individual and an organization for “great strides in helping society understand and respond to climate change.” Oreskes won in the individual category, while the Alliance for Climate Education, a nonprofit dedicated to educating high school students about global warming, won as an organization. The awards will be presented on June 8 at Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., as part of a session in the “Managing the Planet” lecture series. Oreskes — an internationally renowned historian of science and author — has been teaching at UCSD since 1998. For the past 20 years, she has studied the process of consensus and dissent in science. In 2004, she began to investigate the question of what scientists had to say about global warming and quickly realized that scientific experts had a consensus on the reality of global warming and its human causes. Her Science magazine essay “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” has been cited in the mass media in the United States and Europe, including in the Royal Society’s publication “A Guide to Facts and Fictions About Climate Change,” in the Academy Award-winning film “An Inconvenient Truth,” and in Ian McEwan’s novel “Solar.”Her latest work is the critically acclaimed book “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco to Global Warming,” coauthored with Erik Conway andpublished in 2010 by Bloomsbury Press.

Jim Casale Joins Lee & Associates as Principal

Jim Casale

Jim Casale has joined Lee & Associates, a commercial real estate firm, as principal of its San Diego-UTC office. Casale has 30 years of experience in investment brokerage, commercial property ownership and property management. He most recently was vice president of Voit Real Estate Services in San Diego. During his 10-year stay there, Casale closed more than 90 transactions valued at $200 million. Prior to joining Voit, Casale co-founded Pacific Estate Group, a boutique commercial brokerage firm concentrated in the Chula Vista, National City, South San Diego and Otay Mesa markets. A graduate of the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Casale holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation from the CCIM Institute and has been a San Diego chapter board member for nine years. In 2004, he won the San Diego CCIM Designee of the Year Award.

Former Ashworth Golf Industrial Building Sold

A joint venture between Alliance Commercial Partners LLC and American Realty Advisors has purchased the former Ashworth Golf industrial building at 4010 Ocean Ranch Blvd. in the Ocean Ranch Corporate Center in Oceanside. The property was built in 2005 and contains 203,779 square feet and has six acres of excess buildable land. The seller, Lloyd Wells Gift Trust, was represented by Mike Erwin of Cassidy Turley | BRE Commercial. The buyer was represented by Tucker Hohenstein of Colliers International. Hohenstein and Mike Erwin will be handling the leasing of the project. Alliance Commercial Partners is a privately held real estate and operating and investment company. The sales price was not disclosed.

Brian Morelan and Wes Lavender Join Trigild

Brian Morelan

Wes Lavender

Brian Morelan has been hired as the new director of property management at Trigild and Wes Lavender has been named business development director of the company. Morelan, who has 28 years of experience in asset and property management, will oversee multifamily office, retail and industrial assets nationwide for Trigild, supervising a staff of 30. Prior to joining Trigild, Morelan was vice president of asset management for Fairfield Residential. Prior to that, Morelan served as regional vice president at BRE properties, where he operated and managed a portfolio of 5,000 multifamily units. His experience also includes serving in various management positions for Oakwood Worldwide. Morelan holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA. A Certified Hotel Administrator, Lavender has over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry. In his new position he will concentrate on expanding Trigild’s hospitality portfolio and overall market share. Lavender previously was general manager for various hotels, among them the Holiday Inn Mission Valley, Country Inn & Suites San Diego, Holiday Inn H&S Anaheim and Holiday Inn Express Oklahoma City. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas in Arlington.

Bailey Gardiner Adds In-House Web Designer

Bailey Gardiner has hired Jake Craigmile as its in-house Web designer and programming expert. Craigmile holds a degree from Florida State University and spent four years at Gelhardt Graphics collaborating on design projects, including Websites, brochures, brand identities, posters and newsletters.

House of Pacific Relations Hosts 75th Anniversary Party

The 75th anniversary celebration of the House of Pacific Relations-International Cottages will be held May 28 at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. The 31st annual Ethnic Food Fair will be held both Saturday and Sunday, May 28- 29, at the International Cottages. Saturday’s event will feature a Parade of Nations starting at 9:30 a.m.. The U.S. Marine 3rd Air Wing Band will lead the Parade of Nations from the Lily Pond by Plaza de Panama to the Organ Pavilion. The 75th Anniversary festivities continue with 6:30 p.m. entertainment featuring the Air Wing Band and dance and music from ThemPhilippines, Poland, Ireland, China, Italy and the Mediterranean. The Ethnic Food Fair will be from at 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Cultural presentations and understanding have been our passion,” says anniversary Chairman Mike Richards. “We were founded during the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego with the goal to present our cultures and friendship between ethnicities. Today, the House of Pacific Relations is the largest successful nonprofit volunteer cultural organization in the United States, carrying out cultural and friendship activities. As of today, 32 countries/ethnicities are members of the HPR.

Small Business Workshops

SCORE San Diego continues its series of low-cost workshops. Fees range from $29 to $109, depending on the program. To register online, visit score-sandiego.org. For more information, call (619) 557-7272.

May 12 – Financing Your Business – 9:30 a.m. to noon at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door).

May 14 – Business Plan 201: How to Write a Winning Business Plan – 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at National University in Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, San Diego 92011; pre-paid registration $99, $109 at the door).

May 14 – Professional Selling: Increase Your Business Sales Now! – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).

May 16 – Business Basics 101 – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; No charge – please pre-register).

May 17 – Financial Statements: What They Mean, How to Use Them – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door).

May 21 – Introduction to Starting Your Own Business – 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).

May 21 – Internet Marketing 101: Use the Internet to Successfully Market Your Business – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).

The Daily Business Report is produced by REP Publishing Inc., publisher of SD METRO, the North Park News, Kensington News and the West Coast Craftsman. Contact: Manny Cruz (619) 287-1865.

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Voice Your Opinion

We Want Your Opinions on San Diego’s Big Issues
In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
Some areas may include Mayor Filner’s first 100 days job performance, should the city be responsible for economic growth and the creation of new jobs, how important are infrastructure improvements to our daily lives (streets and bridges, etc.), how important is water independence, how satisfied are residents with public transit or how do city residents value Balboa Park and other open spaces? Do you believe the City Council should revive the Plaza de Panama plan for Balboa Park?
You can email Probolsky Research directly with your ideas: info@probolskyresearch.com